The appearance of the metal tiger statue in last year’s Fourth of July Parade helped inspire David Blankenship’s donation of the icon back to Salem High School.
After mysteriously disappearing 20 years ago, students returning for fall classes at Salem High School this year will be welcomed by a sagely icon from the past. The welded metal tiger mascot that once prowled in front of the school’s gymnasium has returned with a new coat of paint and secure grounding near the building’s front entrance. Making the tiger’s return possible was the teamwork of David Blankenship, the school’s administration and several construction trades students.
Twenty years after its mysterious disappearance, students returning for fall classes at Salem High School this year will be welcomed by a sagely icon from the past. The welded metal tiger mascot that once prowled in front of the school’s gymnasium has returned with a new coat of paint and secure grounding near the building’s front entrance. Making the tiger’s return possible was the teamwork of David Blankenship, the school’s administration and several construction trades students.
“I'm just happy the students got to be a part of it, that was my biggest goal in giving it back to the school, that the students got to put it back in its rightful place,” Blankenship says. “It's visible to the town, to everybody who comes here to see different sports. It's out front where it can be seen, so we can be proud of our tiger, and our Salem tigers.”
Blankenship is the son of a former high school maintenance supervisor and came into possession of the metal statue after his graduation in 2003.
“It was already removed,” Blankenship says. “Somebody stole it, and it never got put back, and not a lot of people knew where it was. That's how I ended up with it right after I graduated. The superintendent at the time said he got tired of putting it back and told the maintenance crew to get rid of it.”
Thus, it looked like the tiger’s era would end if not for some well-placed nostalgia.
“The tiger was in the scrap iron pile that the school had,” Blankenship said. “I was lucky enough to be able to keep their scrap iron pile clean, so I hauled it off for scrap iron to take to junk, but I just couldn’t do it. I just had to hold onto it.”
Blankenship recalls, “The first time I remember the tiger here, my dad brought us up and showed us, and I thought it was just neat. We'd climb around on it. We climbed in it. It seemed like a school playground to us younger kids at the time.”
Over the past 20 years it wasn’t entirely a secret that Blankenship had the tiger, or at least for visitors to his residence. The statue was standing proudly atop his garage. However, a social media post brought renewed public interest in the artifact, and Blankenship announced its continued existence.
“I didn't know what I wanted to do with it,” Blankenship says. “Several thoughts went through. I thought about contacting the school years ago, and I didn't. Then, last year, I decided to fix it up and put it in the Fourth of July parade. Everybody loved it. Everybody yelled and was excited to see it. I knew it at least had to come back up to the school. This is where it belongs. The students helped build it years ago. It belongs to the school, and I was lucky enough for the administration to decide to place it back out.”
Salem High School Principal Jody Heavin, a SHS Class of 1995 graduate, was among those enthusiastic about seeing the tiger make a return. She arranged for students of A.J. Tinker’s construction trades class to install it on the school’s front lawn through an agreement with Blankenship.
“I want our students to enjoy high school and for them to be able to look back on it and have great memories,” Heavin says. “I think that’s what the tiger does for a lot of people. It brings back memories of high school, and those memories they shared with their friends.”
After spending time in the school library this year, the tiger was installed in May.
“I was riding my bike home and pulling out of the circle drive, and I just looked over, and there they all were, setting it back up, working together,” says Tyler McConnell, the high school’s English teacher, and a SHS Class of 2006 graduate. “I thought that was really cool. They all seemed to be invested in the process and not stealing it and hiding in on the top of the school, or anything like that. It was a nice ‘comeback to Jesus’ type of story.”
Heavin says the original metal tiger is believed to have been made by students in the 1960s, and the current model is at least its second iteration.
“There are rumors that the very original tiger is somewhere buried in a field in St. James,” Heavin says. “Whether that's true or not, I don't know, but this particular tiger was a remake of the original one. I'm not sure if it's the second remake or if it's another one, but this one's at least from the 1980s. From what we can tell, I think it's been taken a few times, but it's always been returned.”
Heavin adds the new metal tiger will be monitored by a security camera and other measures to ensure it’s no longer a victim of pranks. Homegrown students also helped set it firmly in concrete.
“I got pictures sent to me of the students helping place it, and the smile on their faces, the fun they have with it, hearing people talk about it from then and now, it puts a smile on my face, knowing that's back where it belongs,” Blankenship says. “I hope it's here for generations. I hope the story can be told. I hope someone seeing this comes forward and knows more about it than we do. Maybe when the first one was built and when it got stolen, maybe what happened to it when this one was built.”
